George R.R. Martin’s message of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms star Peter Claffey

That’s one way to start a new series: in the series’ opening scenes. Knight of the Seven Kingdomsnew game of Thrones spin-off, a sword-wielding knight speaks of honor and glory against a backdrop of rolling hills and harsh winds. Famous game of Thrones der-der-derr-der theme tune It starts to swell. And then, pardon the expression, our noble knight pulls down his trousers and hides behind a tree.

There’s another article to be written about graphic defecation in modern television, but suffice it to say that this scene sets the tone for what’s going on. AKOTSK.

Loading

“This is the opposite of the epic,” says Ira Parker, the series’ showrunner. “We wanted Negative having a big epic score like we used to Game of Thrones. We tease this for a moment when Dunk gets the ‘I want to be a hero’ feeling. But he’s not a hero. “He’s just a man… And when he hears that heroic music in his head, his courage fades away.”

Dunk, played by Peter Claffey, soon teams up with Egg, played by Dexter Sol Ansell, and they head off to a tournament to prove their mettle in the classic odd couple pairing. We get some backstory as to why Dunk, a peasant boy, wants to be a “roof knight” (in Westeros lore, knights errant are knights who wander the Seven Kingdoms seeking employment with great lords; so named because they were so poor that they had to sleep under hedges) and why Egg acts like a stable lowly boy, but mostly AKOTSK It is a self-contained story. Adapted from George RR Martin’s novella Tales of Dunk and Egg, this movie is a bit reminiscent of a western; A rookie gunslinger comes to town to make his name and everything begins.

Parker was a writer for season one Dragon Housefirst game of Thrones spin-off, which premieres in 2022, but he took the job on that show off the back of his job. Better ThingsFX local comedy created by Pamela Adlon and Louis CK. His rise to the top is another signal of this. AKOTSK It needs to be a very different beast from its glorious predecessors.

“There’s a lot of this show [Better Things] This one tops that,” says Parker. “Hopefully with its warmth and earthiness. [I want it to] It feels real and unvarnished, like it’s the unvarnished reality of life in the stern end of Westeros.

Parker says he thinks that’s the sense of normalcy, just like mounted knights at a Medieval tournament in 2026 are normal. AKOTSK A show appropriate for our times.

“I think people see themselves in these characters, even though they are set in a fantasy setting,” he says. “It’s fun to have people you know.”

Unlike most, Dunk game of Thrones anti-heroes and arch-villains, you root for him to rise to the top.

“Dunk is a wonderful, likable and easy-to-enjoy character,” says Parker. “I’d like to say I see a lot of myself in Dunk, but I think everyone does. That’s what makes it so endearing: the idea of ​​going out and trying something harder than you can do. This is something very familiar to people who are just starting their lives. It’s scary and it takes a certain type of person with some courage or stubbornness. The thing is, it doesn’t come easy: Dunk is not a hero by nature.”

It’s this simple sweetness that draws Dunk to Tanselle Too-Tall, played by Australian Tanzyn Crawford.

“He’s a puppeteer, a traveling artist who just happened to be in this little town when this all started,” says Crawford.

This meant that the player didn’t need to capture all kinds of things. thrones lore, not to mention the 100+ hours of programming that has already been created game of Thrones And Dragon House. His character can’t tell Targaryen from Tarly, so why should he?

“He’s just normal. He doesn’t know who is who, who is a prince, what he is.” [a] is monarchy. He moves from place to place in his own little world. This took the pressure off me to be knowledgeable about everything thrones Because I don’t think it will happen. He’s just a regular guy, and I love that,” says Crawford.

Still, there isn’t a player on this planet who doesn’t know what it’s all about. game of Thrones It represents the franchise sector. AKOTSK It’s only the second episode of what Parker calls “the greatest show ever on television,” and that’s why it’s such a big deal.

‘I was a huge Game of Thrones fan… shit [myself]To be honest with you.’

Peter Claffey playing Dunk in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

“I was nervous; I’m not going to lie,” Crawford says. “When I walked in I was like, ‘Oh my God, there’s a lot of guys in here.’”

In a predominantly male cast, Crawford can easily hold her own. His character is central to the story, as he becomes embroiled in a conflict between Dunk and the vicious Aerion (Finn Bennett).

Peter Claffey, meanwhile, is well aware of what he’s getting into.

“I was a huge man game of Thrones “I’m a fan,” he says. “Towards the end, the original series was a phenomenon. There was a scene where people were betting on who would win and who would die and they watched it together in bars…it was crazy. I know how passionately everyone will feel about this. There’s a certain responsibility to prevent this, but I’m screwed [myself]To be honest with you.

Loading

Claffey has the advantage of being original game of Thrones writer George RR Martin is offside. (Martin most recently criticized the series. Dragon House for moving away from his books.)

“He said to me, ‘This is my favorite of all my stories… so don’t f*ck it,'” says Claffey, “which was pretty terrifying. But he’s a really nice, nice guy. And I personally think he wants you to do your job, as long as you don’t stray too far from his character profile, as long as you’re doing a good homage to what he’s written. He seemed perfectly happy with the set visits and everything he did. I saw.”

Martin blogged about how much he loved it AKOTSK anyway, but behind Claffey, in addition to the author, is 11-year-old Dexter Sol Ansell. Ironically, Ansell, who has been acting since the age of four, has more experience than Claffey; The Hunger Games: A Song of Songbirds and Snakes and Robert Zemeckis’ 2024 film HereWith Tom Hanks.

“Do you remember when we came back from the reading test?” Claffey asks Ansell (they are interviewed as a duo, just like on the show). “We were sitting, it was me, Edward Ashley [who plays Ser Steffon Fossoway]Shaun [Thomas, who plays Steffon’s son and squire] and Henry [Ashton, who plays Prince Daeron Targaryen] and we were drinking a beer. Dexter was drinking apple juice or something. I was saying, ‘I haven’t made a movie, I would love to make a movie.’ And Dexter said, ‘I made seven.'”

Ansell points out that while he had multiple experiences on the big screen, he was too young to have seen the original film. game of Thrones. He’s too young to be interviewed without his father in the room, too, which sounds like a very worn-out conversation: “Dad, at what age am I allowed to watch this?”

They estimate 15, at which point Ansell may be on the other side of the road. AKOTSK and a big star next to Claffey. But that’s the whole story of the show; start from the bottom and work your way up.

Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is currently on HBO Max.

Find out the next TV series, streaming series and movies to add to your must-watch list. Get the Watch List delivered every Thursday.